2022 Travel Baseball Details
UpdatedTuesday February 1, 2022 byBYB.Please click on the downloadable PDF attachment at the bottom of this page to read the entire Travel Ball Commitment Letter.
This letter has been emailed to all 9/10/11/12 YO registered players.
PARENTS - Please print/sign the last page of the letter, and bring to Tryout Session #1. Also bring the $20 tryout fee, and a t-shirt that fits your player, so we can use it for sizing (rather than having players try jerseys on).
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Travel Ball Overview + Letter of Intent
Parents:
Thank you for your interest in having your child tryout for Bismarck Youth Baseball’s (BYB) 2022 travel ball program. BYB is a non-profit organization that sponsors youth league baseball and travelling teams for Cal Ripken baseball in the 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old age groups. For travel ball, BYB may sponsor up to two teams per age group, depending upon the number of tryout participants and the results of the tryout process. If there are enough players to field two teams within the 10-, 11-, or 12-year-old age groups, the players with the top 12 tryout results will be placed on the “Americans” roster and the next 12 players will be placed on the “Nationals” roster. If there are enough players to field two teams within the 9-year-old age group, the players will be evenly split between the “Americans” and “Nationals” rosters, based on their scores. On an infrequent basis, a team’s roster may be expanded to 13 players if tryout results are simply too close to differentiate.
To be considered for a roster, your child is required to attend each session to get a valid session score. The sessions will include:
Note: Travel Tryout – Session 2 will be mandatory for all players who have been invited to participate in this second tryout session. The invitation to attend this second session will be based on the results of the player’s tryout – Session 1. It is possible that not all players will receive an invitation to attend Travel Tryout – Session 2. Players that are invited to the second session will receive an email the next day after session 1 tryouts.
Location: Fore Seasons Center “Golf Dome”, 2525 N. 19th St.
Players should arrive for tryouts no less than 15 minutes before their scheduled start time to get checked in. Baseball attire should be worn for tryouts (wear tennis shoes – no cleats) and players should each bring their own glove. Players are not allowed to wear any BYB travelling jerseys or caps from previous years, or any clothing with their name on it. Note: It is the parent’s responsibility to spend time getting players in basic shape (i.e. arm strength, aerobic conditioning, etc.) prior to tryouts.
There is a $20 per player travel tryout fee that must be paid at the first travel tryout session, to cover the facility rental.
9YO | May 1, 2012 – April 30, 2013
10YO | May 1, 2011 – April 30, 2012
11YO | May 1, 2010 – April 30, 2011
12YO | May 1, 2009 – April 30, 2010
Hitting: |
Mechanics, Ball Contact, and Quality of Contact. The pitching machine will be set at the following speeds: 9’s - 40mph, 10’s - 45 mph, 11’s - 48 mph, and 12’s – 50 mph. Each player will get 10 cuts. ~~ Disclaimer: The pitching machine will be set using BYB radar guns. |
Infield: |
Mechanics (footwork, body positioning, and throwing), Positional Knowledge and Defensive Movements (i.e. where to stand along with moving right, left, charging the ball, etc.), Fielding the Ball, Quality of Throw, and Arm Strength. |
Outfield: |
Mechanics (footwork, body positioning, and throwing), Defensive Movements (i.e. moving up, back, right, left), Catching the Ball, Quality of Throw, and Arm Strength |
Pitching: |
Mechanics, Ability to Consistently Pitch Strikes, and Arm Strength. |
This tryout session will be judged by independent (i.e. none of their own children will be players in the tryout group), experienced, and knowledgeable adult volunteers. BYB will attempt to get up to 2 judges per station, depending on availability of volunteers. Each player will be assigned a number for scoring, and the tryout process will ensure that no scoring mix-up occurs.
Warmup: |
Ability to follow Direction and Warmup as Instructed. |
Hitting: |
Each player will get 10-12 cuts. |
Throwing: |
A throwing drill will focus on player mechanics, accuracy, and arm strength. This will be performed without a mound and will start 20 feet apart and will gradually expand to a distance of approximately 100 feet apart. |
Infield / Outfield: |
Each player will participate in various infield and outfield drills designed to expose the player to varying in-game situations and evaluate the player for both awareness and execution. |
This tryout session will be evaluated by the BYB Travel Committee.
At the conclusion of the tryout process, results will be reviewed by the BYB Travel Committee. Based on these results, the travel team(s) will be selected, and team rosters will be posted to the BYB website.
Note: Travel players will not be placed on a league team, similar to years past. 9 YO team(s), and potentially 10 YO team(s), will play together in league play, but will play under certain guidelines to keep competitiveness in mind.
If your child is selected to be on a travel team, there will be an additional $300 travel ball fee to help offset tournament fees, uniforms, equipment costs, umpire costs, and volunteering fee. There will be no refunds, except for the volunteering fee ($100) if standards are met. Of the $300 travel fee, $100 goes towards paying for umpires. If there are excess funds available at the end of the season, the additional umpire funds will be evenly distributed. If teams, decide to play more games that require additional funds to pay for umpires the team must get permission from BYB and at the end of the season each family will be invoiced for the additional balance.
Failure to comply with the above standards may result in the player’s head coach requesting the BYB travel committee for their removal. While BYB understands that conflicts may occasionally arise. However, the above participation requirements are important for the experience of the team. Travel teams typically participate in 4-8 tournaments per year, as determined by the head coach and group of parents at a preseason team meeting. In addition, there will be practices, end of year advancing tournaments: state, regional (if qualify), and world series (if qualify), and some scrimmages as arranged by the head coach. BYB will limit the number of invitational tournaments for the 9-year-old travel team to three per year and such tournaments will not exceed a 400-mile radius from Bismarck, ND. In addition, there will be season-end advancing tournaments (i.e. ND state tournament, regionals, etc.). If a player or parent has any hesitation as to fulfilling the above commitments, then the player should not try out for Travel Ball.
New this year for some age divisions (11YO & 12YO) is a west region travel league that North Dakota Babe Ruth is in the process of developing. Since the league is in the early stages of its formation more information will be provided to the travel coaches as the season approaches.
Note: Currently, North Dakota Babe Ruth is not considering a formal league for the 10YO age group. However, BYB will work with the 10 YO travel team(s) on their options to provide them opportunities to play in league games as well as schedule weekday travel games.
Play-time discussions will not be held outside of determining whether the coach has met BYB’s minimum play-time standards.
We thank you for your interest in BYB Travel Baseball for the 2022 season. By signing the Acknowledgement below, you are representing that you have received, reviewed, and agreed to the information contained within this Travel Ball Overview and Letter of Intent, and that you will abide by the decisions of the travel committee and BYB. If you are not willing to agree to this, please reconsider having your child tryout.
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Player Name and Age (Printed)
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Parent Name (Printed) Parent Signature Date
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Parent Name (Printed) Parent Signature Date
Jersey # - 1st Choice: Jersey # - 2nd Choice:
Age Division:
Tryout Number:
Fee Paid: YES NO
Jersey Size:
Additional Notes:
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2022 Travel Ball Overview + LOI.pdf |